Contents of this week’s box, clockwise from top L: Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, cornmeal, Napa cabbage, more apples. Missing from photo, bcs I forgot: bunch of turnip greens, tomatoes.
True confession – I now have TWO heads of Napa cabbage in the refrigerator. Last week’s head did not make it to the cooking pot. But I saw the recipe below from Sam Sifton in the New York Times and I’m planning to use it with at least one of those heads. The recipe reminds me of the Cantonese Sauce made at Doc Chey’s and used in many of their dishes. Here are the Doc Chey’s recipes for their Szechuan stir fry and Chinese Lo Mein. Same Cantonese Sauce in both. Put your cabbage to use in either one of those recipes, or the one below.
So what are you making for your pandemic Thanksgiving? We have lots of cornmeal recipes at grassfedcow.com. Maybe adapt Cathy Conway’s Collards with Smoked Tomatoes and Cornmeal Dumplings to the bunch of turnip greens in today’s box? Add some cabbage? Make Boone Tavern’s Spoonbread to add a historic touch to your menu? This rich Sweet Cornbread for Thanksgiving?
Are apples piling up? (I’ve been juicing mine – best juice ever!) What about trying! something you’ve never made before like an apple shrub? An easy no-mixer Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting?
Tired of roasting those butternuts? What about butternut squash eaten raw? Yes, in this Butternut and Date Salad.
I’m the biggest traditionalist when it comes to a Thanksgiving menu, but this year? I’m thinking I might as well throw tradition to the winds. Simple dishes and new combinations. With a special treat for the pups in the family, Sweet Potato Apple Dog Treats.
Baby Bok Choy With Oyster Sauce
Sam Sifton’s note: This is among the easiest, most flavorful preparations of greens imaginable, and it pairs beautifully with almost any vaguely Asian roasted meat or fish. It is also exceptional on its own, with rice. You could swap out the bok choy for broccoli, if that’s all you have, or chard, or beet greens.
Conne’s note: Or Napa cabbage!
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
Pinch of sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (do not use seasoned rice vinegar)
1 tablespoon neutral oil
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
4 to 6 bunches of baby bok choy, approximately 1 1/2 pounds, cleaned, with ends trimmed
Combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and rice vinegar in a bowl and set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet or wok set over high heat. When it shimmers, add garlic, then bok choy, and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water to the skillet or wok, then cover it and allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, until bok choy has softened nicely at its base.
Remove bok choy from the skillet or wok and place it on a warmed platter. Drizzle the reserved sauce over the greens and serve.